COLUMN: A very merry bookmas

For the past four years, I’ve been pretty consistent with what I want for Christmas — books, of course. While this makes me easy to shop for, friends and family tell me they worry they will get me a book I already have.

In the past, I’ve created an Amazon wishlist so I could give the link to both my family and my in-laws. This way no one could double-purchase books for me. This year, I only gave my parents one book to get me and my in-laws bought me a Kindle.

Now don’t get me twisted, I got plenty of books for Christmas, but they came from friends and a Barnes and Noble deal I couldn’t pass up using some Christmas money for.

I came away with 16 new books this holiday season, and while I most definitely am out of space to store them, I’m very excited for a new year of reading. Plus, I hear a new bookshelf calling my name.

Romance

At the book club at That’s What She Read in Mount Ayr, we did a little book Secret Santa. My Santa gifted me with “Home Sweet Christmas,” by Susan Mallery, a small-town contemporary romance about two best friends finding love during Christmas in the town of Wishing Tree.

She also gave me a gift card to select another book of my choosing. I picked “Faking Under the Mistletoe” by Ashley Shepherd. I read it over Christmas weekend, and this book came out of nowhere. It was an easy five-star read that earned a top-3 contemporary romance spot for me this year.

Though the book is set during Christmas, it’s really more of a grumpy/sunshine rom-com than it is a Hallmark-esque Christmas book. I highly recommend it all year round.

For our office Christmas, one of the books Erin Henze gifted me was “Check & Mate” by Ali Hazelwood. It’s the only book by Hazelwood I have yet to read, and I clearly have been talking about it a lot because it wasn’t even on my list and she picked it out for me. The young adult romance is about two chess players and won the Goodreads Choice Award for best 2023 Young Adult Fiction.

A friend from back home wanted to gift me a book this year and I gave him a few options. He chose “Flawless” by Elsie Silver — the first in the Chestnut Springs series. I’ve heard great things about this cowboy romance. I know a lot of girls like to read about tall, dark and handsome men with a creative side, but I like to read about good old-fashioned country boys. I’m really excited for this read.

My final romance book gifted to me was kind of an accident. I visited my aunt and uncle while I was in my hometown and had to ogle at their library, way bigger than mine and that’s a tall task. They recently reached more than 1,000 books, making them an official library. I saw “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus, 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards winner for Debut Novel. I must have squealed when I saw it because my aunt insisted I take it. The book features a female chemist in the 1960s and her ability to challenge the status quo.

Fantasy

The genre I was most gifted this year was fantasy, although I gifted four of them to myself so maybe that doesn’t count.

Also at our work Christmas, Mandy McDowell bought me “Master of Iron” by Tricia Levenseller. The book is the final installment in the “Bladesmith” duology. I read the first one last year and enjoyed it. I might need a reread before I dive into this sequel though.

My parents bought me “A Curse for True Love” by Stephanie Garber, the third and final book in the “Once Upon A Broken Heart” trilogy. This is a really popular series, and I’ve already read the first two. Again, I think I would need to reread before picking up the finale.

That’s What She Read had an option this year for readers to fill out a survey and the store creates a custom book box paid for by the loved one. This was a perfect option for my husband to get me. The book came with “Princess Ballot” by Jaymin Eve and Tate James. It’s the first book in a trilogy about a dangerous school for royals.

Then with money I received from my father-in-law, I partook in the Barnes & Noble after Christmas sale, purchasing “Divine Rivals” and “Ruthless Vows” by Rebecca Ross. I just read the first one and loved it. The second came out the day I bought it. I also bought “Throne of the Fallen” by Kerri Maniscalco and “Swordcatcher” by Cassandra Clare. These are both first books in series by authors I have read in the past and enjoyed.

Fiction

A book I haven’t stopped talking about is “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang. Erin bought me this book, and it’s one I’m planning to read right away in January. This was a Reese’s Book Club selection and won the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards for best fiction.

While my friend Anna and I caught up at The Latest Edition Bookstore, she picked out “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr. This novel is from 2014, but it’s been turned into a four-part Netflix series. Of course, I can’t watch that until I read it.

I bought myself “The Invisible Hour” by Alice Hoffman, a book I’ve been eyeing at The Latest Edition for weeks. The book is about a mother/daughter pair escaping an oppressive cult. I’ve recently read several books similar and greatly enjoyed them.

The final book I haven’t actually received yet, but John Van Nostrand gave Erin and me gift cards for The Latest Edition and I plan to use mine on “The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden as it’s the January book club book for the store.

I certainly have my reading cut out for me in 2024.